1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an improved lamp tube connector structure for light emitting diode (LED) lamp tube; in particular, the present invention relates to a lamp tube connector structure allowing a fixed length of the connection line electrically connecting the interior of the lamp tube connector to the drive circuit board.
2. Description of Related Art
Featuring many advantages such as better power saving, longer life span, smaller size and faster reaction speed or the like, light emitting diodes (LEDs) are at present comprehensively applied in various illumination fields. Now certain manufacturers have developed the LED lamp tube allowable for replacement of fluorescent lamps. In a conventional LED lamp tube 1, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, two LED lamp straps 12 are installed respectively on the left and right sides of a long-strapped lampshade 11. Moreover, a lamp tube connector is respectively installed on the left and right sides of the long-strapped lampshade 11, in which the lamp tube connector is an end cap 13, and a drive circuit board 131 connected to the LED lamp strap 12 is installed inside the end cap 13 in order to drive the LED lamp strap 12 for light emissions.
Additionally, two electrode terminals 132, 134 penetrate to the exterior of the end cap 13 from the interior of the end cap 13, and the conductive ends 133, 135 of the electrode terminals 132, 134 are individually located inside the end cap 13. Therefore, using at least two connection lines 14, one end of the connection line 14 is soldered onto the drive circuit board 131, and the other end thereof is jointed to the conductive ends 133, 135 inside the end cap 13, such that the electrode terminals 132, 134 can electrically contact the drive circuit board 131 to transfer electric power.
However, with regards to the aforementioned circuit layout, since the other end of the connection line 14 needs to be soldered onto the conductive end 133, 135 inside the end cap 13 to allow assembly operations, such a soldering process has to be performed under a situation where the end cap 13 and the long-strapped lampshade 11 are separate. Unfortunately, the area of the end cap 13 is usually relatively small, so, suppose the other end of the connection line 14 needs to be soldered onto the conductive end 133, 135 inside the end cap 13, precise and prudent operations are required to obtain the desired accurate soldering results in order to ensure the electrical conductivity.
Since the assembly operation has not yet been completed before soldering processes, the length of the connection line 14 connecting between the conductive end 133, 135 and the drive circuit board 131 may not be consistent to the standard specification (in other word, the connection line 14 needs to be sufficiently long, thus allowing operators to reach the interior of the end cap 13 to solder the connection line). Upon completion of assembly operation, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the connection line 14 placed therein will definitely become too long, which may undesirably cause bending or entanglement problems of the two connection lines 14. On the other hand, in case the connection line 14 becomes overly short, the electrical connection may not be successfully achieved and the operator can not reach the inside of the end cap 13 to perform soldering processes.
Consequently, the length of the connection line 14 becomes an annoying issue for manufacturers. In addition to the aforementioned problems, excessive length of the connection line 14 may further result in circuit interference or inconvenience in assembly operations.
Therefore, it would be an optimal solution if it is possible to allow a fixed length of the connection line electrically connecting the interior of the lamp tube connector to the drive circuit board, and also further enables electrical conductivity between the connection line and the electrode terminal without soldering processes.